Description: Chun-li follows a trail of clues that she expects to lead to an underworld contact of her father's, and instead finds... Grandpa Gen?!? The old chef provides a glimpse of deadly kung-fu more brutal than any he shared with Chun-li in her youth... and warns her in blunt and certain tones about the lethality of her personal crusade against Shadaloo.
Some things of the past are best left untouched... Though this obsession to avenge her father after his death had been driving Chun-li through her life, the motivation that fueled most of her efforts and carried her to this point in her life. Digging up the past and her father's old cases, she had gotten closer and closer to what she has been craving : finding her father's murderer.
Alas, all the attention given to those past cases had drawn the attention and ire of a secret organisation : one that quickly took care of burning down all those evidences and almost ended up killing Chun-li in the process. Even if she lost her home and all the links she had to the potential murderer of her father, she had been able to find substantial information about one of her father's associate. Someone who used to have lots of connection in the underground life of Hong Kong years ago.
Her searches allowed her to find the whereabouts of this man, and when Chun-li had the chance, she transfered to Southtown as a casual police officer. It had been her decision, after her boss had told her to take it easy for a while due to the assassination attempt on Chun-li. No clues were found on who did this, but considering the sort of investigation Chun-li did on terrorist cartels, many had good reasons to see her dead.
Going to Southtown would allow her to take care of her personal business and focus on it with a job that would be much simpler.
-------------- Present time, Souhtown
It had been two months since Chun-li's transfer. She'S been part of the special elite force of the police department, thanks to her martial arts talent, but aside from that, she's been patroling on her own (lack of staff but also due to her personal records). The job was very humbling and reminds Chun-li of the time when she started her career. The job of a police officer isn't just one of handling fines, but also the sort of job that leaves you to deal with the mysery of humanity on a common basis : pity thievery, conjugal violence and other horrible things of the like. Chun-li had a lot of respect for those who had to do this job.
Now that she had been settled for a while, she had enough time to explore Southtown and finish her investigation : the man she was seeking was in China Town, apparently in a restaurant called Genhaten.
During one of her off-duty day, Chun-li decides to pay the place a visit. She's dressed casually : a pair of jeans and a top with chinese patterns on it. A simple jacket keeps her warm from the cold though as she walks into this place. She had heard rumors about this place too -- apparently, you could eat for free if you beat up one of the staff member here. The thought made her smile.
Though she wasn't here to fight someone. She strides in the restaurant, heaving a soft sigh. Her heart was pounding with excitment and anxiety : years of researches and investigation leading to this place... What if it was a dead end? Chun-li closes her eyes, refusing to think of this. If that was the case, then all she had done would have been for naught...
Even the vigilant stone lions flanking the door don't notice Chun-Li before the restaurant's aged proprietor. The eccentric chef they call Gen does indeed offer free meals-- largely to the city's prodigious, fighting youth-- to those who spar with (and perhaps humble) one of the unusual young men who've recently found their way into his care, but this afternoon there's something entirely else on his mind. While it would be perhaps generous to call Gen's mind so sharp as to recall and recognize the international woman of mystery grown from the girl he instructed well over a decade ago, he knows who Chun-Li is. He follows many of the world's warriors, but that's a tale for another time; tonight's refreshes memories of another idealistic investigator. One with a little girl, who didn't understand just what Vega was-- another hero who trusted their kung-fu, another fool who didn't listen.
Gen can already tell (or at least, concludes with jaded prejudice) that this one will be the same, already scowling in those first moments as the woman scans the establishment. It's a quiet afternoon mid-week, the rush at lunch long died off and only a few tables occupied by couples and a small family eating as they're served by a softspoken, polite girl. She can survive the quiet shift with the old man on duty, currently occupying a chef's station near the back of the dining room, near the door to the back.
Gnarled hands with the resilient strength of tree roots spin and dry the glass already in hand when she walked in without missing a beat, and it's hung overhead without as much as a turn of one dark eye to aid the precise marksmanship. No, he spares no look for his work, that attention remaining fixed on the vigilante who just marched into his place with business in her stride; heavy history behind her eyes. It should all be read to noir styled narration. Gen huffs quietly and uses the rag in his hand to rub down the dark mahogany in front of him, the rest of the space dominated by that wet bar and a large grill and chef's accruements. The old cook here puts on one hell of a show with knives, it's been said. Gen doesn't greet her; that part isn't unusual here. The unusual part is the attention he pays as the server does, smiling lightly as she offers over a menu and gestures to the... well, expansive options for seating; poor girl hasn't a clue.
Chun-li's body moves on its own, her hands reaching out for her jacket and taking it off from her while her eyes slowly scan the quiet restaurant. Her eyes quickly find the potential exits : an instinctive reflex from her years in Interpol and as a field agent, as well as an attempt to identify potential threat or unusual details.
Chun-li folds her jacket in her arms and her eyes rest on Gen after a moment, staring intensely at him for a moment, their gaze meeting for a lingering moment. Her staring might have seemed rude if it hadn't been for the prowess the old man was actually performing with his knives which drew the attention of a few customers.
Chun-li narrows her eyes a bit, though the waitress comes to her and offers her a menu. The question seems to catch her off guard at first. Chun-li smiles and she waves with her hand dismissingly, "Sure," she replies, not really paying attention as she follows her.
The cook, for some reason, had drawn Chun-li's attention, a man worthy of attention, and one that also seemed familiar. Could it be just a hunch? Her sixth sense telling her it is who she's looking for, even though she has this weird, familiar feeling?
Chun-li follows the waitress for a moment, but she moves away from her once she has given her her seating. It was almost as if she was spellbound by Gen's skills. "I think I'll just sit on the bar," She says to the server, before approaching Gen.
The chinese woman makes her way toward the bar, like some other customer who might just want to be impressed by Gen's feats and cooking prowess before they eat. She sits down quietly at the bar, folding her arms and silently staring at the old man more closely.
The scent might hit the warrioress first, the zesty dumplings freshly frying on the grill, spun and flipped delicately with a flat metal spatula amidst a healthy sizzle. She and her father would eat them by the dozens, in what must have seemed like simpler times to them both-- when the idea that would become the Genhanten restaurants was a hole in the wall ramshackle operation in a disreputable district of Hong Kong. Never underestimate the amount of intel that drifts through eateries and bars amidst hives of scum and villainy. Like the madeleines of Marcel Proust, it might take a nibble-- and that much, it so happens Gen is professionally outfitted to provide. Not much has changed since the last bowl that was served to her, not even the practiced yet nonchalant slide that carries it down the bar to rest in front of the stool she occupies.
The dish contains spicy chicken dumplings amidst fried rice and vegetables in a trademark sauce that's been the same for decades; perfecting recipes is a young man's game, one he already won. Contrarily to his initial consideration, Gen now seems to be willfully oblivious to the attentive contemplation, or even that he's being stared at, instead patiently waiting for Chun-Li to, well... catch up to why she's here. In the meantime, he gathers up and pours two small cups from a bottle of fine sake.. and downs them both, in swift succession. Perhaps Chun-Li isn't the only one with memories that carry some heft to them, perhaps it's a memorium of his own to the fallen-- perhaps he just needs his medicine before dealing with angsty young people.
The scent was a soothing one -- Chun-li associated it with those fond memories, somewhere deep inside her mind. Memories of a different time and age, where things were life was simpler, where she had no worries. The aroma causes her to close her eyes for a moment, enthralled by it. It felt exactly the same. When Chun-li comes back to earth, she heaves a dreamy sigh, surprised by her own reaction the way her eyes widen a bit.
When the bowl slides all the way to Chun-li's stool, the woman moves one of her hand to catch it : though it is unnecessarly as it stops right in front of her. Chun-li's gaze turns to the content of the bowl and she takes wooden sticks to eat the dumplings. She takes one to her mouth and takes a bite. She chews slowly on it, savouring it. They were delicious -- enough to send a shiver down her spines, the taste strengthening those pleasant memories in her mind. Why she is reminded of all of this, she does not understand for now...
While she eats, Chun-li is observing the old man. It might not escape his notice and careful eyes, despite Chun-li's discret ways. The thought of complimenting the chef on the meal crosses her mind, but she decides against it... Time to get down to business, "I am looking for someone," Chun-li says sternly after she finishes another bite of her dumpling, "... An old friend of my father," She adds, "... Shuidai Long," She says softly, glancing at him to observe his reaction.
Gen's immediate reaction seems likely somewhat out of placed-- the old man is clearly amused. "Are you?" He queries enigmatically, tone between knowing disbelief and sarcastic glee. One white eyebrow arches as he looks back to Chun-Li at that perfect moment to catch the woman's attention levied on him, and locking his gaze on hers in return. "Shuidai Long is dead." Gen shifts to deadpan, serious, direct without missing a beat-- though it's likely not entirely clear if he's still fucking with her or not, given the addendum. "If he ever existed." There's a trace of the glee, there.
The old master allows it to just hang in the air there for a moment, perhaps long enough for Chun-Li to take offense at the nature of his answer, before he barrels right on with, "Your father thought he did, though, that is what's important. That is how we met." As information drops go, it's not particularly meaningful; but some old men just adore going on with this story or that. "He expected Long could teach him kung-fu and lead him to the connections to the biggest bust of his career; a criminal beyond any your father had known. At the time he did not understand that some evil is not simply beyond the law..."
Gen's voice drops several levels in volume, the aged assassin leaning, leaning forward to narrow brows and murmur to Chun-Li, ".. Some evil is deathless. You would do well to walk out that door and forget you ever heard that assassin's name-- and stop pursuing the case that killed your father." Of course, how can she do that? As we already established, Gen has pre-emptively sighed, and drunk, and now pours himself a third, looking Chun-Li up and down, thoroughly. There's nothing lascivious in the old man's gaze, indeed as he concludes his study-- he scoffs. "/What/ do you think you would even do about it, if you found every answer you seek?"
His enigmatic answers definately does not seem to please Chun-li. A slight twitch near the corner of her eye, her brows narrowing slightly as she stares at Gen after his reply. It took the woman an effort to maintain her calm despite his eccentric answer that did not help her in the slightest and made fun of her. It seems she's about to retort, and by the look on her face her comment would have been probably fierce and nasty, but Gen speaks just before she has a chance to say a word back.
The next bit of information that comes out of his mouth are enough to catch Chun-li's attention. She leans in a bit closer, the anger fading away from her features as she listens to the old man. Her hand slowly tightens into a fist when Gen suggests that she'd better drop the case and forget about it. To even consider this seems like a blasphemy to Chun-li -- this had been her goal all of her life, there is no such thing as a deathless evil.
Chun-li turns her head away from Gen a moment, pondering his words, "Does it truly matter to you?" She simply replies, "My father deserves to see his effort be put through the end, so his death will not be in vain," Chun-li replies sternly. It was a partial lie and her heart knew it -- her true motivation, her goal was less notable than this, one of vengeance first and foremost, and then finish what her father had accomplished through this.
Does it matter to Gen? He considers it over a knowing smirk, unsurprised by the stern defensive. "Your father was a good man." the enigmatic chef offers up simply, frankly, setting aside his drink and bottle and tapping several surprisingly strong, bony fingers against the hardwood as he studies the younger fighter. "He does not deserve to see his line end itself in suicidal wrath worthy of a fable; were anyone left to tell it." The old master scoffs softly, that hand rising to stroke once, fiercely, through his long white beard.
He certainly doesn't pull any punches in his continued assessment of Chun-li's supposed 'life's work'. Hmph. "You aren't ready. Chasing demons you don't understand, with rage that will only feed them." Gen shakes his head, grunts quietly in understated disdain. He steps out from around the bar, the gold-trimmed green of his silken, old-world Chinese garb glinting amidst the restaurant's dim ambience. One arm crosses relaxedly across his back, and he stretches languidly, anchoring his weight on one foot, wheeling one arm out to the side with a slow groan before sliding back into a relaxed stance.
"/What/ irresponsible halfwit suggested -you- might have the kung-fu to take down a creature like the one that murdered your father, child?" Gen smiles, but there's little mirth behind it. All facade aside, the old man takes no pleasure in this discussion-- it's a harsh reality, the lesson he interjects at this point on her path. It has to be. "Or do you even know what you're hunting? Did you learn everything from mail order? High impact exercise videos?" Gen scoffs once more, with feeling. "Kill the man, dismantle the engine of war that consumed your father, -fool-; you're not even a match for an old man!"
COMBATSYS: Gen has started a fight here on the right meter side.
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|-------\-------\0 Gen
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li has joined the fight here.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Gen
This was a sensitive subject for Chun-li -- one the chinese woman did not expect to be confronted with today it seems. All the things she had endured, all of the training she had done in her life are to lead her up to this moment. She grits her teeth, her expression slightly twisted by anger. Despite her best effort to keep her calm, Chun-li slams her palms against the bar and replies vehemently at Gen, "This is not going to happen!"
Her sudden out burst of rage though just makes Gen's next words seem more truthful, "You have no idea what I've been through, old man, all the sacrifices, all the things I have done to prepare myself this day," Chun-li says, pointing a finger in his direction. The disdain in his voice only seems to fuel her anger all the more.
The chinese woman keeps her eyes locked on Gen -- her louder intonation certainly draw the attention of the few customers who were around in this quiet afternoon. She glares at Gen, though she doesn't let anger fully consume her as she tries to keep her head cool to assess the things he says to her.
All he said was true though : she had no idea what she was hunting. The thought of an organisation so powerful it send assassins after her for simply investigating old files about them makes her shiver. She had to know. For herself, or else she would never know peace and this desire if vengeance would merely consume her if she finds no way to quench it.
"Underestimating me would be a dire mistake, old man," Chun-li replies as she stands up from her stool, her stern expression fixing him. Normally, she might think twice about attacking a man his age, but he provoked her. If he wants to see the strength of her kung fu, he would taste it first hand.
She hardly takes the time to stretch, leaning back slightly, her left hand turned palm toward Gen while the other is held back in front of her midsection. She takes a moment to assess the old man's stance and then charges into action.
Chun-li takes two rapid steps foward, giving herself a small momentum before she leaps into the air and performs a front flip. She extends her right leg, a trail of chi following her the dropping feet as she attempts to hand her the heel of her foot straight for Gen's face, finishing her landing by a complete split on the ground.
COMBATSYS: Gen blocks Chun-Li's Hazanshu.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Gen
It's not the first time today that Gen seems unsurprised by the response Chun-li offers-- then again he did rather goad this one, in particular. He's prepared for the consequences, however, in seeming defiance of her assertions. "Quite the opposite...." Gen protests the idea he's underestimating anyone, and indeed: the little old man is alarmingly stable, meeting the forceful descent by stepping in towards the point of impact, deflecting her cleaving foot fearlessly with a resilient arm-- the earlier metaphorical comparison to the roots and limbs of a tree prove to hold up under pressure. "You overestimate yourself!"
Dark eyes fade to blank, white voids, and where other fighters might radiate their strength, telegraph the grace and heritage of their style, Gen seems to such senses a quiet, empty chasm-- at once calm, quiet, chill.. and very not. "I simply know what you're capable of better than you do..." He offers up the ever-so-helpful claim as he's wheeling upwards, launched as if by jets on his slippers to seek a forceful, kicking stride up Chun-li's torso as she rises, intent on planting both soles on her face and backflipping off, a motion that seems almost casual, relaxed... if not for the alarming efficiency and instinct in the old master's movements.
".. Suicidal girl." It threatens to be his new nickname for her. "The kind of prey you hunt laughs at such amateurish art!"
COMBATSYS: Gen successfully hits Chun-Li with Weakened Ouga.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/--=====|=------\-------\0 Gen
On the outside, Chun-li's stance and movements felt unwavering, however, to a careful observer like Gen, he might easily see that her reflexes and movements were affected by that built up anger inside of her. The serenity that seems to come from Chun-li is, in truth, corrutped by her feelings which seems to distract her slightly in her maneuvers.
When the woman rises back to her feet, her arms move to block the incoming kick, alas, the old man ends up being more swift and agile than she is. The kick to her torso makes her growl in pain, but the rising kick on her face knocks her back and forces her to stagger a few steps not to lose balance. Fortunately, a couple of chairs and tables nearby allows her to regain her balance once she stumbles into them.
The woman seems surprised by Gen's vivacity for a second but she tries to conceal her surprise, getting back into her combat stance once more. This is far from being over : the woman tries to clear her mind to focus on this fight, not letting his pity insults get to her, "You have no idea who I am and what I am capable of," Chun-li replies with a growl. To her, this was obviously the most shocking part.
Chun-li shifts back into offensive once more, rushing toward Gen : once she gets close enough, she leans back and balances on one leg, letting the other unleash a flurry of kicks in all direction : high, middle, down, middle, high... Back and forth, with lightning speed and accuracy, "Kyaaa!" She shouts through her onslaught.
COMBATSYS: Gen parries Chun-Li's Hyakuretsu Kyaku EX!
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Chun-Li 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Gen
Gen makes a slow show of a sigh. He'd roll his eyes if he had pupils left. If he had currency for every time he's heard /that/ over the years. He rights himself where he lands, descending with a deceptively gentle step-- any dancer should be proud to have the poise of this odd old man. It carries through as she charges into the fray once more, and Gen's stable stance suddenly evaporates; or perhaps, condenses. He becomes liquid, gaseous, as if intangible for the precise acuity with which he darts back from each of the countless kicks-- some he weaves beneath, some he /steps/ over as if jumping a rope, here and there he's forced into a backlong slide.
Never does he retreat farther than he's literally forced, never does he falter in his graceful answer to Chun-li's capable kicks-- weapons that could fell world champions, were that her ambition. "Yes, yes. Your style and talent is a great mystery to me." He might sound less than convinced. That dubious nature might be confirmed by the innumerable fury that's unleashed on the skilled woman in return, giving her nary an instant to recover before he's punching her here, there, everywhere-- it's a flurry perhaps even more swift than the kicks she unleashed, slapping, jabbing or painfully pinching at agonizing clusters of nerves at every vulnerable point on Chun-li's torso, seemingly simultaneously.
Still, the damnable old man seems to be scarcely trying; unconcerned with her strength, unconvinced that he's in any way wrong in his assessment of her mission. Not even mentioning his assertion she couldn't get past him; or the darker nature of Vega, and the secret depths of their artforms. Their very lifestyle.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li dodges Gen's Weakened Hyakurenkou EX.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Gen
The chinese woman's definately tenacious and determined : despite Gen's fluid avoidance of her kicks one after the other she carries on as long as she can, until he retaliates. The woman rapidly leans back and her torso swift moves and sways to slip around the flurry of punches given to her. Her movements are less graceful and fluid than Gen's were, though she manages to avoid every single slaps and jabs, forced by the old man into a more defensive stance.
Chun-li bites her lips and she shouts back at Gen, "No! That's not what I meant," The woman says, "You have no idea /who/ I am! What I went through, all I've done to get here!" There's a bit of despair in her intonation, "Perhaps you have an eye for assessing my kung-fu, but that doesn't mean you know /who/ /I/ /am/!!"
Punctuating her sentence, Chun-li lifts both of her arms up, focusing all of her energy into this attack. She opts for a powerful palm thrust this time and she swings both her hands fiercely at Gen's midsection. "You might judge my kung fu, but I refuse to let you judge my reasons or my determination about this.."
COMBATSYS: Gen dodges Chun-Li's Fierce Punch.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0 Gen
"Who you are is irrelevant to the fight you have chosen." Gen retorts simply, allowing a moment's respect for the agile display that evades his cruel techniques-- not that he speaks of it. "I do not question the validity of your cause; only your ability to survive it!" It's not the kind of crusade that's particularly tolerant of failure, now is it? The surprisingly spry old master wheels from one foot to the next, leaping clear of the powerful palmstrike, and placing himself on Chun-li's flank.
"As if high ideals will comfort you, broken on the ground." Gen scoffs again, but it's likely lost in the /whoosh/ of air that follows the first unrestrained blow he levels on her. It comes as he lunges in on one foot, the legendary assassin's fist reaving a path upwards before descending in a brutal, whipping arc that violently displaces air. It's not so much your traditional punch as it is reminiscent of clocking someone in the temple with a brick, for all the gentleness in that gnarled appendage as Gen follows its momentum back into an anchoring stance. Seldom has more been said in such a swift moment, the force behind that hammering fist audible, tangible, unmistakeable whether it collides with the investigator's skull or not.
"You have come far; but now you have stepped beyond yourself." Notably, Gen still has no reactive anger or malice from the... fervent exchange. The words are calm; cold. Certain.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li blocks Gen's Kyoutetsu.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Gen
"I do not intend to sacrifice myself!" Chun-li replies harshly as Gen swiftly manages to circle away from her fierce strike. The woman staggers back to prepare herself from Gen's counter attack. She reacts quickly, moving both of her arms in a cross in front of her to block the path of Gen's soaring arm before his fist that touch her skull. The brutal swing crashes into her forearm with a loud thud, causing Chun-li to flinch under the pain of the blow, crushing her guard yet she manages to hold on.
When he pulls away, Chun-li is panting softly. Gen was definately a tremendously powerful opponent, stronger than any she had faced before. "I will prove you my worth if I must, and if you do not deem me strong enough, I will do what is necessary to acquire the strength I am lacking," Chun-li bites her lips and she shouts, "I refuse to give up, you hear that, old man!? Her intonation is filled with resolve.
Chun-li quickly follows up : she spins around and flips into an handstand, using her hands to launch herself toward Gen, the momentum of her spin following into a powerful whirlwind of kicks of spinning kicks. She manages to stand upside down doing a split for a few seconds before she finally has to land, rolling into her back.
The moment she lands though, Chun-li springs back into a high jump, her powerful legs reaching out to deliver a high kick at Gen's chin. She spins on herself mid-air, delivering a second and a third kick to further knock him back (if the first ones connected, that is).
She had no choice in all of this -- she cannot beat what she wants out of Gen, he would have to tell her what he knows willingly, and Chun-li is resolute to do whatever it takes to get what she wants.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li blitzes into action and acts again!
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Chun-Li 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Gen
COMBATSYS: Gen parries Chun-Li's Spinning Bird Kick!
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Chun-Li 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Gen
Gen says, "Oh right, smash2."
COMBATSYS: Gen blocks Chun-Li's Tenshou Kyaku EX.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Gen
"Hmph! Demons have no concern for the intentions of /prey/." Gen makes the biting retort intently, with no trace of uncertainty. "You think many lambs -intend- to die?" The quizzical amusement is coupled with motion, one white brow arching in the moments before he simply vacates the path of Chun-Li's reaving, whirling cataclysm of kickings. He inverts with almost uncanny defiance of gravity, flipping out of his anchored stance as if the room were suddenly turned on its head. There is no surge of power from within him, but rather the area's chi draws to him for the moment as if in a great but invisible vacuum as the diminutive, deadly old man lands in a three-point crouch against the hardwood framing of the landing overhead; it's not the first time this fight there've been gasps and murmurs amongst the restaurant's scattered patrons. Eating tends to have ceased, at least for the moment.
Rather than staying evasive, Gen /launches/ himself back in at Chun-Li in the precise instant she executes her own followup. For a moment, it looks certain to be an exceptionally violent collision-- trucks on a highway. The keen eye might catch the careful observation and analysis the old master gives to the Tai Chi expert's style and techniques-- hardly the first time this bout there, either. It might be optimistic to read the widening, blank white eyes as shock; but she did catch Gen by surprise. For a moment. Crossing his arms and tucking his legs up towards his chest, the balled assassin simply steels himself against that impact... and the followthrough, as his guard is brutally smashed.
Still, his gnarled limbs are like unto kicking reinforced vault steel, and when Chun-Li drops out of her onslaught... she'll find Gen descending right beside her. "Worthy..." The old man scoffs, but perhaps not for the reason she thinks. As he lands, the assassin anchors his weight on one hand, using it as a fulcrum and launching his entire weight into a singular, rib-cracking kick, one slippered foot leading the old man's deceptively powerful frame brutally at his prodigal student's midsection.
"The easier path would be to convince me you are worthless." He notes it with a little giggle. Moments after executing a technique that's killed many lesser fighters; a perfect, brutal blow for his frame. Or for hers. It was, after all, the first meaningful technique he ever taught Chun-li during her single-digit years of training. "I would send you to them tonight!"
COMBATSYS: Gen successfully hits Chun-Li with Gendenansatsushu EX.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Gen
Chun-li has been quite a champion and talented martial artists : one who had faced many challenge and opponents and who has always managed to come over victorious. She had her share of defeat but she always managed to overcome all of the obstacles and opponents who stood in her way one way or the other. Young prodigies or adults who were masters in their art. She had won many tournaments but...
Never had she faced an opponent as fierce as this old man before. It was definately an humbling experience to say the least.
Chun-li's burst of agility and rushed attack left her exhausted -- her aggressivity playing against her as Gen has managed to counter it with his own serenity and fluidly brushed off her attacks with relative ease.
After the momentum from her rising kick attack, Chun-li has little leverage to defend herself against Gen's attack when she lands. A scream of pain escapes her throat as she fails to avoid the incoming kick to her midsection and Chun-li ends knocked back against a rows of chair and a table.
Her landing is far from graceful : the chairs get knocked aside and the table flips over under the impact of CHun-li's body against it. The chinese woman groans and winces as she rolls to the side, one arm wrapping around her side. She might have broken ribs, but the adrenaline manages to make the pain bearable for now.
She glares up at Gen and grits her teeth. There was only anger in her eyes as she did... The frustration and anger of powerlessness. Not because she could not defeat him, but because of the truth of his words. If he fears the evil that killed her father, and that she's not even a match against him, how can she hope to do something in her current state against it?
Her emotions seemed to get the better of her though and Chun-li closes her eyes to try and control herself. She straightens herself up and push herself off the table. She keeps her eyes closed for a moment and nods slowly to Gen, "You are right," She finally admits, "I... Am not ready," It seems to pain her to have to say those words.
Her hands clench into fists and Chun-li bites her lips and Chun-li heaves a soft sigh of resignation, lowering her gaze in defeat. Those few seconds allow her to refocus on herself and regain her calm. Without the anger shrouding her mind, Chun-li lifts her eyes up to Gen and takes a moment to assess him, "... Just who were you for my father?" She asks.
The familiar deja-vu when she walked in, the technique he had just used on her... Could it be?
Chun-li blinks, her eyes widening a bit as if in sudden illumination. This wasn't Shuidai Long : "... Gen?" She asks.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li focuses on her next action.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/=======|=======\-------\0 Gen
Fear may be the wrong word-- long have the Triads fought a brutal guerilla war against Shadaloo's influence in China and Hong Kong. Perhaps Gen doesn't believe that killing Vega is the answer, or within his power; perhaps he's tried before and seen the impact it has on the nigh-immortal psychic megalomaniac. Perhaps he's simply not interested in slaying that particular dragon, so much as keeping it off his doorstep. The pragmatic and acerbic old man doesn't seem the world's most likely heroic crusader, after all.
The case then in counterpoint of course being the fact that Chun-li is right on the money with regard to his identity. Her father's old ally and mentor. Her earliest tutor-- and the man who saw to her safety when the worst came to pass, and her father got his wish to face Vega. While his opponent may be weary, injured, fighting that haze of fatigue and pain, the damnable old man seems fresh and calm, ready to proceed-- perhaps indefinitely. Even so, Chun-li is hardly the useless case he implied in the first place. Though it's likely Gen was keenly aware of this from the beginning, testing her skills in such a manner has confirmed and clarified more than a few assumptions about the prodigal student's capacity. After all, he's not wearing a scouter; he may have one built in, however.
Gen gives a small, mirthless smile, and offers Chun-Li a simple, paradoxically respectful bow of acknowledgement. "So you've caught up, then. Such a slow child." Despite the biting sarcasm, there's little genuine malice in the old man's words. Not that that stops him from being intolerable and evil to Yun, at the least. "I would not have chosen to see him dead, I promise that much." Straight answers on request are not really the old master's stock in trade. "And here is the daughter, walking the same trail, stinking just as badly of an early death." The half-retired assassin huffs derisively, and strokes his beard briskly between gnarled fingers.
"The demons of this world care no more for your readiness than your intentions, child." He moves like a flash. One instant, Gen is stroking his beard, and the next-- he's all up in Chun-li's personal space. The old master seems to cross the distance in a single lunge, a lancing pair of braced fingertips lashing outwards in what seems like a thousand flashes in an instant, striking with simultenous, cruel precision for nerve clusters and several chi junctions sensed as much as known on his adversary's frame, targetting Chun-Li in a dozen(?), a hundred(?), it's all but impossible to say how many strikes, precisely, seek to harshly stab her from neck to waist. "You don't stomp a nest of hornets and ask for respite to -prepare-! Fool!"
COMBATSYS: Gen successfully hits Chun-Li with Shitenshuu EX.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Gen
In all those months Chun-li had spent digging up the information that would lead her to her father's murderer, not a second did she expect to stumble across Gen -- Grampa Gen who took care of her when she was younger and was the one who initiated her to martial arts. The first one who saw that raw potential into her and started shaping it.
She has only the fondest of memories of the time she spent with him. He disappeared out of her life shortly after her father's death and she never knew what had happened to him. A part of her believed he must have died and her mother, to spare her from further saddness, just told him he left them.
When he bows and acknowledges to Chun-li's question, a myriad of expression mixes themselves up on Chun-li's face : joy, melancholy, surprise, anger... Only to end with confusion. For the past years, Chun-li had grown and was known as a rather cold, ruthless and efficient agent, driven by justice and through her martial art she had been able to keep control of her emotions but now she's a bit in disarray. Her shoulder slump down, her lips purse gently, as if she wanted to speak but no words come out of them.
She's simply speechless.
She closes her eyes at his sarcasm, her arm still wrapped against her side which still hurts her incredibly. "Someone has to stop those demons... We can't just cower in fear for all of our lives and let them go unpunished," She replies softly. Chun-li opens her eyes and the old man has already rushed at her in the blink of an eye.
The chinese woman attempts to slip around his finger snaps though her reflexes cannot match his godspeed as his fingers snap various spots on her body with incredibly efficency, keeping Chun-li on the defensive. She tries to pull back, her knees bucking and flinching from the incredible pain he inflicts her and after the few strikes she's almost defenseless against the onslaught, every hit earning a cry of pain and a rough bite of her lips to hold them on.
Even after those hits, the lingering energy in her nerves still wreck her with constant and keen pain like he was still hitting her body all this time. His powerful presence eclipsing Chun-li's own making her feel in total distress, at loss for her proper mean to retaliate until she manages to overcome this dreadful sensation.
"I was but a child, I know nothing and seek only to understand, how can you chastity me for something I have yet to know and understand?" Chun-li closes her eyes, lifting her arms up with effort, in spite of the wrecking pain she feels through her arms, thanks to Gen's nerve strikes. She manages to concentrate intently, her chi gathering inside of her arms and swirling up between her two hands. It swirls and slowly forms a large ball of blue energy, "The real fool, old man, is the one who prefers to live his life in ignorance and refuses to use his strength to change things!"
It takes barely a second for Chun-li to amass this powerful ball of energy. She opens her eyes and hurls it at point blank at Gen, letting out a loud ki shout out of her throat along with it.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li successfully hits Gen with Kikoushou.
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Chun-Li 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Gen
The eruption of blue energy catches Gen off guard, erupting across the space between them as he simply listens, amused, and instants too slow on the guard he seeks to raise in the face of the devastating wave of energy. Despite its raw power, its stinging intensity, for all the ferocity with which the old master is launched backwards, he seems more pleased than stymied by the defiant blow, rising a half-second after he skids to stop in a three-point crouch, blank eyes rising back to consider Chun-li. "Wise architect of the world, am I?" One eyebrow arches. "Are you? Hmph. You beg forgiveness for ignorance and innocence whilst whining and loudly demonstrating it again! As if you know what wars I've fought; what demons I've killed." White teeth show in a slow, calmly predatory smile. "What demons I've been."
The legendary assassin shakes his head, and sighs profoundly. "Refuse to change things...." There's genuine mirth in his chuckle over that-- coming at a time Chun-li may be less than glad to hear it. "Are you so blind to the echoes of my techniques in the very core of your style? The foundations that your strength is built on is of my workmanship." Arrogant, perhaps-- but he's not wrong. "Even if my life were limited to the one such endeavor, your bellowing would be hilarious." Again, he chuckles a bit too gleefully.
The aftermath of the blast sees no further assault from Gen-- he watches Chun-li impassively, taking careful measure of the dissipating energy spike, the woman's exertion, the continued agonizing entropy of the energy within her reeling from his own brutal technique. For the moment, Gen simply strokes his beard, and watches, smiling softly and knowingly. "Come then, you can do better than that. It will work better if you focus and don't bother attempting to explain how your idiocy is justified!"
COMBATSYS: Gen focuses on his next action.
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Chun-Li 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Gen
Panting loudly from the exertion her previous attakcs have caused on her, Chun-li stares at Gen with renewed focus and resolve. Her chest heaves back and forth and she tries to control her breathing. She bites her lips to try and resist the intense pain Gen's previous attack left her wrecked with, but it does little to help. "I don't beg for forgiveness... Only to understand..." She says through ragged breath.
A smirk spreads on her lips though and she says, "... And I've found you're a much harsher master than you used to be -- though always eager to show the little girl that I am she's wrong, tss..." The thought seems to amuse her. "Let me show you how I've blossomed,"
No more fancy words now. It was time for their respective arts to speak : hers that relied on Gen's fundation and upon which she nourished herself to become what she is now, after years apart she still carries most of his lessons through her stance and techniques. A master who forever marked her.
Time for the old man to see what she rememberd of his lesson and show him her own lightning speed. In the blink of an eye, Chun-li rushes at Gen. She leans back and delivers a powerful series of kicks at him, a flurry of low, mid and high kicks. After a dozen kick, she turns on her heel and switches foot, performing the same flurry of lightning kick.
Chun-li finishes this assault by turning around and delivering a powerful backward high kick by bending over gracefully as she does, one meant to knock Gen in the air. If this succeeds, she quickly leaps in the air after him and spins on herself in the process to punch him twice while he's in the air.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li successfully hits Gen with Houyoku Sen.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/------=|=======\===----\1 Gen
While Gen tries once more to raise a defense against the onslaught levelled against him, it's unavoidably lethargic. His body aches, limbs bearing the brunt of the explosion from instants before. Her speed is as remarkable as reputed; it would see her claim victory from the jaws of defeat in many other situations. Here, it provides the old master a thrashing not unlike the one he just took from her volatile chi-- he's kicked back, her assault always a step ahead of his retreat, hammered by the sequence of uncountable strikes, before the two of them go airborne across the restaurant.
For long, painful moments the precision sequence of strikes leaves the assassin like a rag doll in the form of an undersized old man, kicking free with the final momentum as he goes crashing through the shrapnel of a freshly splintering table, its chairs scattering, skittering loudly to the far corners away from the impact. There's a bit of a groan as the wielder of the Assassin's Fist gathers himself up, taking his time to offer simply, "That girl did not need this lesson."
Gen brushes some wood chips from the front of his fine silken ensemble and eyes Chun-li evenly, "That girl did not need to understand this kind of kung-fu." With that, he runs sidelong up the pillar that rises to the dining space above in a flash, as if he simply willed his body to action rather than needing to accelerate through proper sprinting. Several strides into the uncanny ascent, he kicks off in a horizontal flying kick of his own, even with Chun-li's aching torso.
He'd flip up over that contact if made, kicking back straight down at the back of her head before rebounding clear. The attack wouldn't end there, however, the alarmingly agile old man rebounding off the opposite pillar and mirroring the strike, this time wheeling into a second roundhouse meant to take Chun-li clean off her feet at the end of the blurring series of missile-like strikes.
COMBATSYS: Gen successfully hits Chun-Li with Kouga EX.
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Chun-Li 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Gen
Chun-li's fatigue and aggressive fighting style ends up backfiring on her as the old man proves to be much more elusive than she had expected and much more vigorous than she is. Chun-li is running out of stamina and Gen's attacks have left her body in pain : a real mess. This has been a beating unlike any Chun-li had in her fighting career.
She had given all she had, and Gen was clearly still a few steps ahead of her. Like a true master, always one step ahead of her. She glances up at him as he runs on the pillar and comes jumping at her. The pain dulls her reflexes and Chun-li fails to avoid his kick. The follow up in the back of her head has her staggering for balance and the moment she regains her posture, he's already jumping back at her for another roundhuose kick that sends her spinning in midair before she crashes into one of the table.
Her body feels heavy with the pain and fatigue, her vision growing blurry. Her broken ribs catch up with her, her hair are a mess from all the violent falls she had. Chun-li can barely manage to lift her back up, even less rise fully yet she seems to stubborn to just lie down and let go. She bites her lips and sums up her remaining energy before crashing down, her chi channeling into her hands before she hurls a smaller blue sphere of energy at Gen, one that pales in comparaison to her other. Right after that, she groans in pain and crumbles, lying fully on her back, arms sprawled open.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li can no longer fight.
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|====---\-------\0 Gen
COMBATSYS: Gen dodges Chun-Li's Kikouken.
> ////////////// ]
|====---\-------\0 Gen
COMBATSYS: Gen has ended the fight here.
The ache in the assassin's old bones is testament to the strength that Chun-li has already attained: a truly ominous measure of the target she has chosen. The evil idea that killed her father. It's been some time since Gen has exercised his more formidable techniques; longer since he took a series of strikes akin to those the Tai Chi warrior delivers. As she falls, he senses the stubborn surge of chi even before the orb of blue pain coalesces, weaving around it with his hands linked behind his back, the whirling projectile propelling the pieces of the devastated table subtly outwards as it courses the length of its path and dissolves into the ether.
Gen's eyes don't leave the passing blast, and return to the falling Chun-li, until that finality is achieved; scientific interest is paramount, after all. It's convenient that she's nigh-inert, really, it makes it easier to take a moment to gather three deep breaths, and stretch a painfully wrenched limb back into place.
Only then does the old master calmly approach Chun-li, waving the serving girl over, "Help her get upstairs, I'll make some tea for the pain." The girl gives Gen a somewhat quizzical and unconvinced look, but moves to do as asked nonetheless. Gen seems certain; Chun-li is going to have questions. Probably for quite some time.
All her body could feel was pain -- her breathing was hard and her lungs felt on fire. A spasm surges through her body, her muscles tensing from the lingering nerve strikes Gen used on her. She arches her back and groans weakly on the ground -- it would take her some time to recover from that.
Even as Gen comes closer to her, she seems to be lingering between two worlds : consciousness and unconsciousness. She has just enough strength to at least not be a totally limp burden in the waitress' arms when she forces her back to her feet, which seems to be a relatively painful and exhausting experience. Not like she was in any position to complain anyhow as she's dragged around up the stairs.
Odds are Chun-li won't remember a thing of what just happened past her last kikouken.
Log created on 20:27:08 02/19/2015 by Gen, and last modified on 23:22:02 02/24/2015.